Printers, copiers, and other types of image forming devices have become necessary productivity tools for producing and/or reproducing documents. Such image forming devices include, but are not limited to, desktop copiers, standalone copiers, facsimile machines, photographic copiers, laser printers and copiers, and multi-function devices which may comprise one or more of the above devices and other like systems capable of producing, and/or reproducing image data from an original document, data file or the like. During the image production or reproduction process, it is known that toner or other printing material particles may be removed from a printing surface, in order to remove any loose particles that may adversely affect image quality or like characteristics of a final printed document. Devices or units that may more generally remove particulate matter from a substrate, and further collect and/or sequester excess unwanted particulate matter, may also be embodied in conventional systems, as discussed below.
In certain conventional systems, a rotating brush or other abrasion element may be made to contact a substrate to dislodge particulate matter that is desirably removed prior to generation of a final finished output product. This additional, removed particulate matter may be carried by a brush to a separate unit within the device into which the removed particulate matter is collected for disposal. For example, a rotating brush may collect and carry particulate matter to be disposed of in a designated collection area for such matter. Many types of abrasion elements, such as, but not limited to, rotating brushes and wiper blades, are used to achieve a substantially similar functional result.
Once removed from the target substrate, excess particulate matter adhering to the abrasion element may need to be removed from the abrasion element using one or more known methods. For example, a brush element may be placed in contact with a non-moving protrusion to disturb the elements of the brush to which the excess particulate matter is attached. As the brush is moved past the protrusion, the individual elements are jostled so that the particulate matter is dislodged from the brush into a region or other cavity that collects the particulate matter.
Other methods of removing particulate matter from an abrasion element include externally striking or agitating the entire abrasion element to dislodge particulate matter. Such an external strike may be referred to as “thumping” the abrasion element.
Once the excess particulate matter is collected in an area or a plurality of areas, additional systems and methods may be employed to remove the particulate matter from the device, or to otherwise dispose of, recycle, or transform the particulate matter for additional useful processes.
The excess particulate matter may be removed from a collecting chamber by the application of a vacuum or a negative pressure to the collecting chamber. In other words, as an abrasion element removes and deposits particulate matter into the chamber, a vacuum or other negative pressure atmosphere is formed in the chamber to suction or otherwise direct the matter out of the device, or to another portion of the device for separate processing. The abrasion element and collection chamber are cooperatively oriented in any potential configuration to facilitate particulate matter removal. The vacuum or negative pressure environment is configured to sufficiently counteract gravitational or other forces which may force the particulate matter in a particular direction in these conventional systems.
Other systems designed to remove collected excess particulate matter include those employing auger-type or other like mechanical devices to mechanically transport particulate matter out of a collection chamber for disposal, further use, or another application. In these systems, the abrasion element is located above the collection chamber, and the auger or other mechanical removal device is located in the bottom of, or in a position below, the collection chamber. In this configuration, particulate matter removed from the abrasion element by a protrusion or other means, falls from the abrasion element to the collection chamber and further into or onto a removal element, such as an auger. Then, the removal element is actuated to move the particulate matter to a designated region of the collection chamber, or out of the collection chamber, as desired. In this manner, a simplified mechanical system may be substituted for the negative pressure/vacuum chamber to remove or sequester the particulate matter.
However, though the particulate matter may be directed from an abrasion element through a collection chamber to a means of removing the matter from a device or to another region of a device, particulate matter may nonetheless collect in portions of the chamber. Over time and extended use, unwanted collected particulate matter can reduce the flow of the particulate matter through the chamber due to increased deposition. In advanced cases, the increased deposition of particulate matter causes severe restriction or blockage of a path or other direction of movement of excess particulate matter from the abrasion element out of the system.
Conventional systems attempt to counteract the adverse deposition of particulate matter by incorporating a thumping system or method separately to dislodge excess particulate matter deposited in a collection chamber. Thumping, however, may provide unnecessarily large jarring forces or other disturbances in a device, which may result in adverse effects in the device, such as, for example, misalignment of printing heads on a substrate due to the thumping operation. Further, many devices are not compatible with the application of a thumping operation, such as large scale heavy machinery. In these instances, it may be necessary to suspend normal operation of a device in order to properly and completely clean and clear the collection chamber. Because a device may need to be removed from service in order to clear restrictions or blockages in collection chambers caused by excess deposition of particulate matter, such excess particulate matter deposition increases manufacturing costs and delays depending on the severity and frequency of accumulations of particulate matter.